British chip developer ARM Holdings has confirmed this morning that it has accepted a takeover offer from Softbanc, the Japanese multinational telecommunications and the Internet. The operation was carried out by 24,300 million pounds as reported this morning the Financial Times.
This operation becomes the largest acquisition of a European technology company, with which the Japanese operator hopes to lead one of those expected to be of the greatest technological markets in the coming years, the Internet of Things. SoftBank will pay 17 pounds in cash for each share in ARM.
“ARM is an excellent strategic fit within the SoftBank group, while we invest to capture the most important opportunities provided by the Internet of Things,” said Masayoshi Son, newly appointed CEO of the company. “This is one of the most important acquisitions we’ve ever done, and I hope that ARM will become a cornerstone of the growth strategy of SoftBank.”
Softbanc wants to settle in the IoT
Although not produce themselves, ARM designs chips for a variety of devices. They have a remarkable dominant position in the smartphone market, with customers such as Apple or Samsung, but gradually are beginning to position themselves in other emerging markets.
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As their numbers, the company has spent years growing exponentially, and if in 2010 the number of chips containing ARM processors was 6,000 million, in 2014 the figure had risen to 12.000 million, reaching the end of 2015 15,000 according to the Financial Times. About half of those chips are mobile, although the company is experiencing high growth in networking equipment and Internet of Things.
The acquisition has also had a political interpretation. The newly appointed Minister of Finance in the UK, Philip Hammond, interprets it as a sign that Britain “has lost none of its appeal for international investors” despite the Brexit, and ensures that the acquisition will double the number of posts work of ARM in the country over the next 5 years.